Shattered Mind Control Teaser
by Krimson Rogue
Summary: It seems Kaiten left something important behind on Terra...


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author's notes: The book is finished! XD And publication is underway!

It's a novella, so around 100 pages or so, and about 22000 words long (longer than anything that's ever appeared in Shattered Mind. I had a lot of fun writing and exploring the antihero, Richard Clarke. You can find it on your Kindles, Nooks, and eReaders. Look for Micro God by K.R. Martin. On sale for only 99¢ American.

Here's a description for you, as you can find online.

Richard Clarke is a man born with the unnatural ability to control all reality around himself. Whether it be granting himself immortality, stopping bullets in mid-air, or destroying his enemies with a mere thought, he is often feared as a god on Earth. However, outliving everyone he ever loved whilst losing friends to the limitations of his powers causes a heavy burden upon his shoulders, and in the 21st Century, Clarke is a stoic loner, traveling and living only to kill evil. He has no time for friends or family, but all that changes when he meets a dedicated doctor working in the dark streets of Detroit.

In Detroit, Clarke vows to eliminate all gangs terrorizing the city's populace. However, after delivering a junkie with a broken leg to a hospital, Clarke is given a chance to end his decades of rampages, killing criminals and villains. Instead, he is offered a chance to work in the hospital along the idealistic Doctor Chloe Hall. His powers give him an incredible edge in the emergency room and he soon realizes that he could save everyone who comes through the hospital doors. But the gangs are still out there, and Clarke has to make a choice. Should he keep killing, or should he begin saving lives?

"That which is destroyed cannot be repaired. That which is mended cannot be maintained."

Now that that's settled, it's time to do what I do best… torture you guys with monstrous cliffhangers!

Shattered Mind: Control Teaser

XXXXXXXX

"Log on: Ckelen-te-Clu central command system… Access level: Master. Code 2,3,6,6,4,7."

"Central command system operational," the computerized voice replied. "Welcome Professor. Please select your destination…"

Kaiten Saeis was a dangerous man. His power rivaled that of the greatest heroes of the past. If Terra hadn't perished, he surely would have secured his place in history as a liberator. But, Terra did perish, and Kaiten had been killed. Now, his legacy was the one he left in the head of an Earthling.

"Access main chamber… Access cryogenics… Access primary override gauge…"

Kaiten Saeis was a stubborn man. He had brought this entire operation down, toppling the greatest chance at revival for all of Terra, for whom else could revitalize it? What genius mind was left after such a catastrophe? None were greater, and surely the planet would have suffered, were this man mortal.

"Chamber preparation on standby Professor," the computerized voice said. "Override?"

"Confirmation code, 5, 9, 4, 8, 1, 7, 3, 3."

"Confirmation code accepted," the computer said. "Overriding previous stasis calibrations…"

Kaiten Saeis was a foolish man, for even he could not kill an immortal. The disembodied head sat upright on the desk in the underground chamber Kaiten had left him to rot in. But that was not good enough. That would never have been good enough. In a room with vocally controlled computers, robotic bodies could be rebuilt and work could be continued. Kaiten had made a mistake in letting the genius live.

"Unit 02 on standby…" the computer said. "Unit 03 on standby… Unit 04 on standby…"

Kaiten Saeis was a dangerous man, but so was Hart Innural.

"Unit 05 on standby… Unit 06 on standby… Unit 07 on standby…"

Even with his body shredded, Innural had devices and mechanisms to help him move around. Claws and tendrils sprouting from the walls helped him in the small room. He had taken the remains of his old body and was busy replacing them. He would need a stronger, larger body next time. There would be no mistakes. He wasn't foolish enough to go after Kaiten himself—he had learned from their last encounter not to—but he would have his revenge.

"Unit 08 on standby… Unit 09 on standby… Unit 10 on standby… All Units on standby…"

"Activate them," Innural ordered.

Several cryogenic pods opened in the next room. One by one, the pods revealed their captives, sleeping soundly until the day Innural needed them. He had experimented on them of course, and they would bend to his will. The security features he implanted in their brains would see to that. It would have been a waste to do anything else with them or their souls.

The first captive crawled out of the pod, disoriented and confused. He was dressed in simple clothes, pure white shirts and shorts that looked like they had been stitched together from a single sheet of cloth. He pulled himself out, then collapsed onto the floor, looking hard at his hands, his arms, and his entire body. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was nothing out of the ordinary, per say, but he was sure he had died.

"It makes sense you would be the first one awake," Innural greeted as the man walked out of the chamber room, gripping the doorway for support as his hair messily covered his face.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," Innural said. "I'll fill you in on the details when the rest of you are up and about, but for now, just be aware that I'm sending you out for revenge."

"My swords…" the man mumbled. "Where are my swords…?"

"Your weapons and armor and those of your teammates are locked in a storage locker upstairs," Innural said. "Don't mind the destruction of the lab, they're sealed behind reinforced obsidian. We'll get to that in time, but your enthusiasm for action is encouraging."

"It certainly is."

Before Innural could utter another word, the man reached out and grabbed the madman's head, lifting it above the table and smashing it down with 1000 years of rage and suppressed disgust. He slammed the madman time after time into the table until a unique dent started to form on the bridge of Innural's nose where the metal began to warp.

"What are you doing?" Innural demanded between attacks. "You're supposed to be compliant!"

"You think anyone would submit to you after what you did to us?" With one more slam, Innural's nose had been pressed flat against his face, leaving him ugly and deformed.

"Sarge?"

Aitris Naze held Innural's dented head by the hair and turned, staring in awe at the other survivors. "Remus!" he called out. "Cyl! Zarath! You're alive!"

"We are," Cyl said, crouching through the doorway. Even without his armor, he was a giant of a man. "Though, I remember a bomb detonating. I thought I had died."

"We did," Zarath said, tucking himself into a corner. He sat in silence and watched the others, surprised like them and trying to make sense of it all.

"I brought you back!" Innural shouted from his undignified location. "I put your souls into new bodies, much like your old! You will submit to me and carry out my revenge!"

A fifth man stepped through the doorway, wobbling like he was trying to recover from a hangover. "What happened? My head won't stop pounding…"

"Karis!" Remus shouted excitedly. He raced to wrap his arms around his friend in a tight hug. "I can't believe it! You're not dead!"

"Of course I'm not," Karis said, pushing Remus back. "I—wait, why am I alive?"

"Karis," Aitris said, tossing Innural's head his way. Karis caught it and held Innural's head upside-down. "Get rid of this, would you? I don't have my swords at the moment."

"Sure thing Sarge," Karis said, channeling his purple magic into his hands.

"You can't do this!" Innural screamed as Karis' hands and his head started to glow from the energy. "I AM THE GREATE—"

A sharp POP silenced Hart Innural forever, as his head was blasted into dust. Now, the "immortal" madman was truly gone for good.

"Guys?" Makareth asked as he entered the now crowded room. "What's going on? I remember getting shot, and—"

"We were all killed," Aitris said. "That much is obvious. However, Innural brought us back somehow."

"Wait, I'm confused," Remus said. "If we all died, then what happened to Innural? Why was he just a talking head?"

"Look around," Aitris said, folding his arms. "Which one from our team is the only one not here?"

They all took a moment to look around each other and into the pod room until Remus realized who was missing. "Wait!" he said. "Where's the LT?"

Aitris smiled. "He made good on his promise. Kaiten must've done this to Innural and left him for dead. He wanted the asshat to suffer. I can't blame him."

Aitris walked into the room, shoving the broken tables out of the way that were destroyed in Kaiten's battle with Innural. He looked at his new body and grinned.

"Alright, listen up!" Aitris said, addressing the conscious troops. By reflex, the rest of them fell into place, standing at attention in front of the door to the pod room. "Kaiten's not here anymore. He probably didn't know about this secret room here, or else he would have busted us out. So, until we find him—and we will find him—I'm in charge, understood?"

"Yes sir!" everyone chanted.

"Good," Aitris nodded. "Makareth, you're good with computers. Get on them and find out all the information you know. Remus, stay here and try to wake up Aiex, Ank and Borrik. The rest of you, come with me. We need to get our weapons back."

Aitris led the tired team out of the room with a proud grin. The Spectral Knights would rise again…

The Spectral Knights would never die…


End file.
